At the first light of dawn, the Moon Festival party gathered in the forest to the west of the kingdom, where ancient trees stood tall. The misty air seemed to reflect the gravity of their mission. After studying the map provided by the guild, Marten turned to the team:
"According to the latest information the guild has relayed to us, the suspects in the slave trade were last seen in this area. There's a small village called Delwel up ahead. When we reach the village, let's split up to avoid drawing attention. Sofia and I will try to gather information from the locals and the market vendors. Rosvil, you and Noel go to the village inn. Keep your identities hidden and try not to stand out too much."
Marten's plan was clear. Kael nodded in agreement from beneath his mask, and he and Noel began making their way along the forest path.
When they reached the village center, Marten and Sofia split up. Delwel was a quiet, poor but peaceful-looking place. Rows of mud-brick and wooden houses with thatched roofs lined the streets. Despite the early hour, the streets were bustling; villagers heading to their fields, men carrying firewood on their shoulders, and children running along the muddy path. Yet Kael sensed an unsettling tension beneath this rural tranquility. People averted their eyes when they looked at them, behaving cautiously toward strangers.
Following Marten's instructions, Noel and Kael headed toward the village's only inn. Not a single word passed between the two as they walked. Kael's silence only deepened Noel's suspicions.
"I still don't know who he is or what his purpose is," Noel muttered to himself.
"Ivor may have approved, but in this world, you can't trust anyone right away—especially if you're an assassin."
Noel silently watched Kael's steps and movementsWhen they reached the inn's door, Kael gently pushed the wooden door open. The moment he stepped inside, the buzzing crowd in the inn fell silent as if by magic, giving way to a deathly quiet. Glasses hung in the air; whispers ceased. Every gaze in the inn was fixed on the masked figure standing in the doorway and Noel beside him.
As they entered, whispers began to rise around them:
"Who's that masked guy? I've never seen him before."
"Look at the girl next to him—she's probably an assassin. Can't you see the daggers at her waist?"
"Adventurers who stop by Delwel rarely come for good reasons. Who knows what they're after?"
"I hope they don't cause trouble; the village's peace is already hanging by a thread."
Kael and Noel walked toward the innkeeper's counter, trying not to pay attention to the whispers. They were greeted by Melkey, a burly woman with flour-stained arms and a face worn by the years.
Leaning against the counter, Melkey eyed the pair with a suspicious gaze.
As Noel sat down on the stool across from the innkeeper, he turned to Melkey:
"Two cups of 'Mader Otu tea,' please."
Kael: "Mader Otu tea? I've never heard of it before."
Noel: "It's a medicinal tea; though the taste is a bit bitter, it's good for the body."
After placing the teas on the table, Melkey turned to Noel and spoke:
"My name is Melkey, young lady. I've never seen you before. Is this your first time in the village?"
When Kael took a sip of his drink, he felt a tingling in his throat; he answered, trying to keep his voice as natural as possible:
"Ah, yes. We're from another kingdom, the western lands. We've come a long way, so we thought we'd take a breather."
Melkey had noticed the daggers at Noel's waist and Kael's sword.
"Judging by the daggers at your waist and the young man's sword by your side, you must be adventurers, aren't you?"
Noel grinned: "Yes, this boy hired me as his bodyguard. I'm accompanying him to his destination."
Noel was trying to make the lie as believable as possible.
"I hope we can learn something about the slave trade," he thought. He approached Melkey discreetly and lowered his voice:
"Actually, Melkey, we heard some strange rumors on the way here. Apparently, there's an illegal trade going on in this region—you know, that 'human trafficking' business... Could it be true?"
Melkey's face immediately turned serious. Grabbing Noel's arm, she whispered in a stern, warning tone:
"Did you say slave trade? You must not know since you're from another kingdom, young lady! Everyone living in the Eastern Kingdom knows that no one can engage in slave trade here—the penalty is execution! Don't ever utter that word again, or you'll be in big trouble."
Melkey's reaction had surprised Noel. She knew the rules were strict, but this reaction wasn't just about the rule; it also held a sense of fear.
Noel smiled at Melkey: "O-of course, you're right. The Eastern Kingdom has strict rules on this matter. In the lands we come from, things are a bit more 'free,' but here the rules are different—I understand that."
Melkey seemed slightly relieved by Noel's response, but she still maintained her skeptical gaze.
"If you'd like to spend the night here, I can arrange one of the inn's empty rooms for you."
"Thank you," said Noel. "We won't be staying long; we'll be on our way before dawn."
"All right, take care of yourselves. If you're ever in the area again, I'll be waiting for you."
As they left the inn, Noel sighed in disappointment:
"We didn't get much information from the inn. It seems no one has any news about the slave trade. Even Melkey's reaction... made it clear she knew nothing about the matter."
Kael spoke in a calm, thoughtful voice from behind his mask:
"There was something odd about Miss Melkey. Or rather, the inn itself was strange. Ever since I walked in, I've been overcome by an indescribable sense of unease and pressure. It felt as though they were hiding something."
Noel looked at Kael's feeling with skepticism:
"Did the drink get to you? I think they were just ordinary people who knew nothing and were simply afraid of the rules."
After leaving the inn, they met up with Marten and Sofia in the village square.Marten asked, "Did you find any information, Noel?"
"Unfortunately, we didn't, Marten. It seems no one at the inn knows anything about the slave trade."
Marten: "I see. Listen carefully; Sofia and I heard a tip from a few vendors. According to them, while packing up their stalls at midnight, they saw a few men heading deep into the forest, wearing masks. They had covered the top of the cart they were pulling with a large cloth; the vendor said he couldn't see what they were carrying, but the masked men's movements seemed suspicious to him. "Let's wait until nightfall. If you see any activity, don't let them notice you. Just watch and report."
As night fell, Delwel Village was shrouded in silence. Marten positioned the team members near the forest path where the vendor had reported seeing the suspicious men. The team was in remote communication via a magic spell.
"Status report. Is everyone in position?" asked Marten.
Sofia's voice trembled: "I-I'm in position, Marten."Noel was watching the surroundings from a tree branch: "Copy that, Marten. No activity in the area."
Kael scanned the forest path from beneath his mask: "I'm in the area; no activity."
Marten: "Copy that. Let's keep waiting. If you notice any movement, report it immediately."
An hour later, a horse-drawn cart pulled up along the forest path, its cargo concealed by a large tarp. The faces of the two men driving the horse-drawn cart were covered with black masks, just as the merchant had described.
Noel's voice echoed through the enchantment: "Marten, a horse-drawn cart has pulled up in the area! The masked men you told us about... they're driving the cart."
"Copy that, Noel! Don't move from your positions until I give the signal."
When the horse-drawn carriage came to a stop, the masked men dismounted and seemed to be waiting for someone. A few minutes later, a man dressed in noble attire emerged from the darkness of the forest. He was looking around paranoidly, as if someone were watching him.
"Did you bring the slaves I requested?"
"As you requested, Mr. Doran. You can check,"
The nobleman parted the curtain on the horse-drawn carriage and began to grin. When he saw the cage beneath the curtain, his eyes lit up:
"Good, very good. Just as we agreed; 100,000 Aureon."
Noel spoke in a tone of shock:
"Who is this man? A noble of the kingdom, trading with masked men?!"
Kael watched the scene intently, trying to make sense of what was happening.
"Why would a noble of the kingdom collaborate with slave traders?" he wondered. This matter was far deeper and more dangerous than he had imagined.
When the transaction was over, just as the masked men were about to take the money bag and leave the area, Marten gave the signal:
"Sofia, now!!"
Sofia struck the ground with her staff, and within seconds, her ice spell froze the wheels of the carriage and the ground beneath them. The ground instantly turned into a slippery ice rink; the masked men lost their balance and began to slide, struggling to stay on their feet.
Noel glided out of the darkness like a shadow and appeared at the masked men's necks in the blink of an eye. He incapacitated both masked men and brought them to the ground in the blink of an eye. Realizing they had been caught, the masked men activated the spell engraved on their bodies.
A series of suicide spells took effect, and their bodies burst into flames. Noel leaped back, dodging the flames.
"Did they take their own lives? They truly chose death over capture," Noel thought.
The nobleman, running in a panic, not knowing where to flee, collided with Marten's massive body as it burst from the forest's darkness and collapsed to the ground. When he looked up and saw Marten, his brows furrowed in anger, Noel dropped to his knees and began to beg:
"P-please spare my life! I had no ill intent—it was just... just a transaction!"
At that moment, Kael walked over to the horse-drawn carriage. When he lifted the cover, he was shocked by what he saw. Inside the cage stood a few elves and wolf-like children, their hands bound, trembling with fear. When they saw Kael and his mask, they flinched and huddled in the farthest corner of the cage.
Kael approached the cage, trying to soften his voice as much as possible:
"Don't be afraid. We've caught the men who wanted to harm you. You're safe now,"
Kael drew his sword from his belt and shattered the cage's rusty lock in a single stroke.Some of the children were injured. Sofia approached Kael and felt a pang of sorrow when she saw the fear in the children's eyes:
"I-I can temporarily freeze your wounds. It will ease the pain."
Sofia used her staff to cover the injured parts of the children's bodies with a thin layer of ice; the coolness of the ice brought them some relief.After tying up the nobleman he'd captured, Marten turned back to the team:
"Noel, were you able to catch the masked men?"
"Unfortunately, the moment they realized they'd been caught, they took their own lives, Marten. This underground slave-trading ring might be far more dangerous than we thought. We should report this to the Guild."
The nobleman Doran began pleading even more desperately upon hearing the word "Kingdom":
"D-don't hand me over to the Kingdom, please! If my identity is revealed, I'll be executed—I beg you!"
Noel grabbed the nobleman by his luxurious clothes, pulled him to his feet, and pressed his dagger against his throat:
"Look at me, you filthy bastard! If you want, I can execute you right here and now without handing you over to the kingdom! You disregarded those children's lives—now you're begging for your own?"
Marten: "Noel, calm down! We need this man for information; he might know the organization's location."
At Marten's warning, Noel pulled the dagger from Doran's throat. Taking the wounded children with them, they set off toward the guild at the first light of dawn.
When Kael and the Moon Festival party told the guild what had happened and about the nobleman they'd captured, a deep look of anger and disappointment appeared on Ivor's face. He slammed his massive hand down on the table so hard that a dent formed in the center:
"Damn him!! How dare he flout the kingdom's laws and abuse his noble title!"
Marten: "Mr. Ivor, do you know this nobleman?"Ivor's face twisted with disgust:
"Ah, yes, I know that scum. He's one of those depraved bastards who runs all the underground operations! I'm not surprised he's connected to the organization—that vile man... And to top it off, he's refused to talk since he was caught."
Marten: "If Doran doesn't talk, it will be very difficult for us to locate the underground organization. His men have already sacrificed themselves."
Ivor took a deep breath, staring at the dent in the table:
"Don't worry, we'll make that scum talk. We've summoned Lady Hestia, one of the Kingdom's sorceresses. She is the 'Star Sorceress.' With her magic, we can force our way into Doran's subconscious and uncover the organization's hideout and all its connections."